10 Basic Rules For Leading A Fulfilling Life 

Nobody wants to look back on their life with regrets. You might have some regrets about the mistakes you have made or things you have done or opportunities you lost. But you can make a conscious decision to minimize your regrets by leading a more fulfilling life. Below, you will find 10 basic rules for leading a fulfilling life.

• Living With Gratitude

There is a lot of power in gratitude. When you start to feel down about your situation, focus on everything you have. Focus on what is going right. Train your mind to find the silver lining instead of automatically jumping to focus on the negative. It can help snap you out of negative energy and make you feel more fulfilled. Fulfillment will be more accessible to you even in the most difficult times of your life. No matter how hard things are you are still surrounded by blessings.

• Live With Love

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. But not everyone has the power to exercise total control over them. So, it might be equal but it isn't fair. You can't change that unless you win the lottery. But you can fill your life with love. You can love your family fearlessly. You can love your friends freely. You can love what you do in your spare time. You can love your pets. If you focus on love, you will feel fulfilled.

• Live Your Purpose

You might not know your purpose yet, you might have had it figured out at age 17, or perhaps you realized it on your 53rd birthday. Your purpose doesn't need to be your job, but whatever it is, you should be able to pursue it as much as makes sense for your life.

When you live with purpose, you don't need to live only for the weekend to roll around. You don't need to stare at the clock and wait for escape. You don't need to feel down on Sunday night heading into Monday morning. You don't need to ignore what motivates or fuels you.

Your purpose might be to have three children and be a stay-at-home parent until they graduate from high school and go to college. It might be to use your law degree to overturn unfair convictions. 

Maybe you want to use your wealth to help the less fortunate. Or you take your chef experience to open a restaurant that caters to the unsheltered community in your local area. Your purpose is your own and it's a clear personal mission that lights your fire.

• No More Comparisons

People compare themselves to others a lot. It's an easy trap to fall into and we are all guilty of it to some extent. It doesn't matter how much you get or do, if you constantly compare yourself to others, you will never feel truly fulfilled. Don't compare how happy you are to how happy someone looks on social media.

Don't compare your salary to what someone on social media looks like earn. You only ever see people's best bits – and that's on social media and in real life. You felt a pang of envy when your neighbor towed a new speed boat home, but you don't know what debt they incurred to purchase it.

This thinking will only ever bring you misery. You will learn nothing from making comparisons. Everyone has their own path to walk. Everyone has their own skills and talents, and everyone is on their individual quest for fulfillment. So, focus on you. 

• Practice Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a powerful tool. You might not think someone deserves forgiveness, but it's worth remembering that forgiveness is more about you letting go of anger and hurt and less about letting someone off the hook for bad behavior. You don't need to give someone forgiveness to make it official. You only need to do it within yourself.

In addition to forgiving others, it's important that you forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, fails, and falls down. So, when you inevitably do, be gentle with yourself.

• Relationships > Possessions

You can't take possessions or friendships with you when you die. The difference, however, is you can leave an impression in those relationships. And those relationships you build provide you with more fulfillment over the course of your life than any possession you could purchase.

You don't need three cars for just you because you can only drive one. Unless that happens to be one of your passions in life. If that's the case, apply it to another possession people pursue and hoard. The point is – there is a difference between fulfillment and pleasure. Pleasure is lovely, but it's empty because it's fleeting. Fulfillment is happiness and contentment. It's something you can hold onto.

• Hold Yourself Accountable

The words you use matter. Your actions count. Be accountable for your behavior and consider the consequences of those actions and words. The quickest way to run into regret is by not doing so.

• Give Back

If you can leave this world having given more than you took, then you will have done well. And in doing so, you will lead a fulfilling life. Invest in yourself, invest in your future, and when it bears fruit, be prepared to pay it forward.

• Don't Hate

The quickest way to lose any chance at fulfillment is by holding onto hate in your heart. Life is way too short for that. It will take a bit of discipline but set your ego aside and embrace humility. Hate will exhaust you and consume you, which will distract you from all of the positivity in your life.

• Spend Time With Happy People

If you have negative people in your life, manage how much of your time you spend with them as best you can. The best way to remain happy and fulfilled is to spend time with happy people as much as possible. It's inspiring. It rubs off on you and will go a long way to helping you lead a fulfilling life.